“Despite the chaos of living, working, traveling, and sharing 112 square feet of space for two months–which believe me there was a lot of chaos–the tiny house taught us only lessons of love,” Sam Giffen told us in an email. “It started as a way to be warm and cozy and became something much more important for survival: a way to make friends. We could talk on and on about the environmental aspects of living small, however, I feel these aspects speak for themselves. What I am most pleased to report about livin’ tiny, is that the following equation appears to be true: the smaller your house, the larger your network of friends.”

The 2011-2012 season wasn’t known as an epic snow year in the lower 48 states, but Canada got dumped on, so the team, who was sponsored by Outdoor Research, headed up north and got their fill. They parked their house in the parking lot of one of the resorts who gave them permission to stay. Along the way, their trusty truck broke down and they were even stuck in Canada for awhile, but that didn’t seem to bother them, since there was plenty of powder to share. Their tiny home had a super small footprint and with 5 people living in it, they practically doubled the environmental benefit. The lesson here of course is obvious: Follow your dreams while making as little an environmental footprint as possible.